Campaign 2012

New Ohio Poll Shows Obama Holding Steady, Narrow Lead

By Jonathan Miller

Just four days ahead of the election, a new survey of likely voters in Ohio shows President Obama still holding a slim but seemingly durable lead over Mitt Romney.

The CNN/ORC Poll, out on Friday, shows Obama edging the former Massachusetts governor by a 50 percent to 47 percent margin among likely voters. The result is virtually unchanged from a week ago, when the president held a 50 percent to 46 percent advantage.

Ohio is crucial for both candidates, but especially for Romney, who faces a difficult path to victory without the state in his column.

A seemingly bright spot for Romney: Some 7 percent of likely voters say that they might change their mind between now and Election Day, a 3 percentage point rise from a week ago.

In a separate question that included a choice of several third-party candidates who will be appearing on the ballot, Obama still came out ahead, 47 percent to 44 percent, among likely voters, but former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party candidate, won 5 percent of the vote, his highest tally of the race. Green Party candidate Jill Stein came in with only 1 percent of the vote.

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The poll of 796 likely voters was conducted between Oct. 30 and Nov. 1 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.